Open letter to S’West govs: This house has fallen (2)

‘Bayo Adeyinka

Continued from Tuesday

 My Dear Governors, why can’t Odua Investments Limited run her subsidiaries profitably and contribute at least 20 per cent to the budget of each state yearly? Why can’t you take a further step by listing Odua Group on the Nigerian Stock Exchange? How can the group’s Profit Before Tax in 2015 be a paltry N597m? That is less than what the smallest commercial bank made in Nigeria. No South-West state ought to be unable to discharge her responsibilities if Odua Group runs efficiently. The story of Odua Group is similar to what happens in your states. There is gross under-performance and inefficiency everywhere. This house has fallen.

 Agbowo Shopping Complex lies prostrate. Strategically located opposite the University of Ibadan, the huge complex is now home to rodents. The complex was built by Chief Bola Ige in 1983 and consists of 104 shops, a theatre, two department stores, a night club, more than 20 large office units and an ample parking space. During its hey days, it was home to Cinema De Baba Sala. Lekan Salami Stadium at Adamasingba has seen more beer parlours than football teams in recent times. Trans Wonderland which covers a total area of 67 acres and was inaugurated in 1989 is now a shadow of itself. The same thing applies in almost all your states, maybe except Lagos in a few instances. Muda Lawal Stadium at Abeokuta is home to several beer parlours and scarlet ladies. A friend once joked by saying that the only industry they have in Abeokuta is the beer-drinking industry. Osogbo is a big village that has defied modernity. The new Shoprite Complex now stands where Owena Motels used to be at Akure as legacy gave way to consumerism. Ekiti, as homogenous as it is, represents little more than a glorified rural set-up.

 During the last West African Senior Secondary School Certificate examinations, only Lagos State was among the top 10 states in Nigeria. Ekiti was 11th, Ondo was 13th, Ogun was 19th, Oyo was 26th while Osun was 29th. A region that once produced scholars now has scholarship relegated to the background. State universities churn out graduates each year but none can boast of any meaningful invention. In one instance, a state university (LAUTECH) has been closed for over 400 days with over 34,000 students left to their own fate. No single government-owned hospital in the South-West has a brachy therapy machine yet cancer kills about 10 people every hour. We have to depend on private and foreign-owned laboratories for our tests and medical diagnostics. Private pharmacies are relied on for the dispensary of most drugs.

 Your Excellencies, our roads are full of craters and potholes. You say you’re constructing new roads but the old ones are falling apart faster than you can build new ones. We don’t have new housing estates unlike before. Lateef Kayode Jakande constructed over 30,000 housing units in four years. He introduced low cost housing estates at Amuwo-Odofin, Dolphin, Oke-Afa, Abesan, Ijaiye, Ipaja, Iponri, Ikorodu, Badagry, Surulere, Epe and other areas in Lagos State. He also built the General Hospitals in Gbagada and Ikorodu in addition to about 20 health centres. Are you building to last, Sirs? I remember the days of Ibadan Municipal Government where the Local Governments were the closest to the people. They constructed roads and even built schools. In Ibadan, such schools were referred to as IMG Schools. You have reduced the Local Governments to mere appendages by appointing caretaker chairmen (who are better known as undertakers) and in the very few instances where elections are conducted, they are rendered ineffective by you.

Do I need to talk about your various broadcasting outfits? In the days of yore, any broadcaster worth their salt must be on Ogun Broadcasting Corporation Radio popularly called OGBC Radio. Individuals such as the late Gbenga Adeboye, Toba Opaleye, Ambrose Shomide, Larry Izamoje and several others held sway at the station. Radio O-Y-O shone like a million stars with the music merchant, Yanju Adegbite and Deola Alagbe. The television arms were pacesetters in their own rights. Hardly does anyone listen to or watch them again. For them, it is Ichabod- the glory has departed. The Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) is now more popular for her annual December Fun Fair where the premises are partitioned into several spaces for pepper-soup eaters and beer drinkers.

 Dear Governors, God has blessed you with the most arable land in Nigeria- nay, West Africa. You have rain for longer periods than the North. Our land is suitable for tomatoes yet we depend on the tomatoes that come from the North. We can plant yam in abundance yet we always wait for Abuja and Nasarawa yam. We are the largest cocoa farmers in Nigeria yet we don’t have a single chocolate factory. Ogbomoso cashew is the best in the world yet no single state in the South-West has a cashew processing factory. We have the largest cassava farms down South yet the only starch-making factory in the South-West is privately owned. There is simply no value addition.

 This is the time to engage creative thinking. You must be the drivers of the ideas that will take the Yoruba people into the future. You must find ways to make your people look inward instead of outward. We can achieve food sufficiency. Build new farm settlements and give incentives for agriculture. Create hubs for real mechanised farming across the states. Construct silos for the preservation of harvest. Open up the rural roads and this will reduce the cost of transport which will further impact the price of food. We can create new apps that can help us take a leap into the future. Invest in science and technology. Give grants specially for apps development that have commercial applications. We can create new jobs that will greatly reduce the rate of unemployment. Create SME hubs around each state with shared facilities. Give tax breaks for new businesses. Resuscitate old industrial estates and start new ones. Set up free wifi points at all state universities. Equip them with e-libraries. Encourage them to re-tool the curriculum for relevance. Let there be at least one world class hospital in each state. Each hospital can specialise in different areas: one in cancer treatment, another for heart-related issue, yet another for pediatrics, another for kidney ailments and so on. Invest in human resources- the people. Educate your people. Energise your governments by injecting fresh blood with new ideas. Set key performance indicators and measure them.

 If it will not be too much for me to say, Sirs, may I humbly warn that you are governing over a tinderbox. You have more unemployed graduates than any other geopolitical zone in Nigeria. You have a mass of highly enlightened but dissatisfied populace. Your people are patient but their patience should not be taken for granted. I am not blaming you for the problems- some of which predate your coming to office. Those who came before you also did not acquit themselves excellently. I am not saying you haven’t done anything at all. Lagos State still remains a bright spot in our dark firmament with some occasional sparks of brilliance among others. Unfortunately, you are in a race against time and you have to prove worthy of the shoes of the ancients you have stepped into. Nevertheless, you are on the cusp of history. You would have noticed that I referred to Obafemi Awolowo earlier as immortal because while he is dead, yet his deeds speak for him. Will your deeds speak when you are gone? What legacies will you leave behind after your tour of duty is over? It may be difficult to fill the shoes of the late sage. He has set the benchmark for generations to come. However, it is your responsibility to carry forward his legacy.

 I will close with the words of Benjamin Franklin. He said, “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing”. Sirs, the choice is yours.

Concluded

‘Bayo sent in this piece from Ibadan

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Open letter to S’West govs: This house has fallen (2)

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